CFP: [General] CINEMA SOUTH ASIA (11/30; U Penn, 2/1/08-2/2/08)

For scholars and cinephiles of world cinema, it has long been clear that there is only one nationalfilm industry that has, in the last fifty years or so, rivaled US cinema for quantity, quality,diversity, and near-global reach. Indian cinemaâ€"not only those films produced in Mumbai (andnow marketed as â€œBollywoodâ€ movies), but those produced in the many other regional languages(primarily Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, but also Gujarati, Bhojpuri), have achieved masscirculation in India and overseas for decades now, and in the last ten years these overseasmarkets have begun to play an even larger role in the economics of production. Today, forinstance, a â€œbigâ€ Bollywood film might open on the same date in Mumbai, New Jersey, London,Dubai, and Singapore. The art cinema tradition in India has produced directors like Satyajit Rayand Adoor Gopalakrishnan whose films are now part of the canon of world cinema.

Following the first â€œCinema South Asiaâ€ conference held on March 17 and 18, 2006, the SouthAsia Center at the University of Pennsylvania plans a conference for February 1 and 2, 2008. Weexpect to have 5 panels of 3 speakers. The Penn South Asia Center is glad to enable this secondconference by offering 15 panelists board and lodging. Please send your 150-200 word abstractby November 30, 2007 to Sheetal Majithia (majithia_at_sas.upenn.edu) with the subject headingCINEMA SOUTH ASIA 2008 ABSTRACT. Panelists will be notified by December 7, 2007.